Genetics is one of the most impressive areas of modern science. It has unlocked the code of life, helped us to better understand evolution, and is home to some of today’s most exciting developments in technology (e.g. gene-editing). It’s also a controversial area, with debates raging about nature vs nurture, ethics in gene technology, and the role of genes in human psychology. When it comes to psychology, many people are reluctant to accept the inevitable fact that genes play a role in thoughts and behaviors. But just as genes determine a large part of how our bodies develop, they also determine a large part of how our brains—and therefore behavior—develop. Here’s some of the latest evidence on the interaction between genes and psychology.
The genetics of your mind
The “foraging gene” in fruit flies predicts how adventurous they are in exploring the world—some flies are more conservative and play it safe, while others accept more risk in seeking out new territories. Scientists recently studied the human equivalent of this gene and found a similar pattern of behaviors. One variant of this human gene was linked to a “just do it” personality, and predicted adventurous exploration when people played a computer game. Another variant was linked to a more careful “do the right thing” personality, and predicted cautious behavior. By affecting how the brain works or develops, genes can directly impact people’s decisions.
It’s important that we don’t overestimate or misinterpret how our genes affect our behavior though. When people are told that they have a “bad gene” for cardiovascular ability and endurance, they perform worse in an exercise test even if they don’t really have that gene. In fact, people’s beliefs about their genes sometimes affect their behavior more than their actual genes do. Genes explain large parts of our identity, including our personalities and intelligence. But our beliefs and expectations are also crucial in determining how those genes play out.
Natural talent + hard work = unstoppable
You can coordinate your natural skills and effort to achieve more:
Try to list three of your natural talents or inclinations. What do you have a knack for? What were you particularly good at on first attempt? What do you really enjoy doing simply for the fun of it? Think of these activities as your nature zone. Of course, there are many things you don’t know you’re good at, and many things you can excel at purely through hard work. But studying your own unique instinctive qualities is never a bad place to start.
Look down the list and target one of the activities that you’d like to do more of. Specifically consider the three questions below, and try to select the one that achieves the highest ratings across the three dimensions. Think of these elements as the nurture zone for your nature zone:
Payoff: How much could you practically gain from the activity in the future (e.g. in health, fitness, productivity, money, etc)?
Motivation: How driven and excited do you feel about doing the activity itself?
Simplicity: How easy would it be to introduce the activity into your current life?
Make a specific plan to do the activity at least once a week. Turn it into a regular habit by doing the following:
Set a precise day and time that you’ll engage with the activity, and put it in your calendar
Subscribe to any service/app that will help you
Set a personal forfeit for whenever you fail to engage with your activity (e.g. donate $10 to charity that week).
Feel free to share your new plan with me by email if it’ll help you to commit!
From nature to nurture
Here are two great gifs, both of which I came across on the enjoyable Twitter account of Steve Stewart-Williams. The first gif below shows our humble human beginnings as a fish-like embryo created by our mums’ and dads’ genes coming together. It looks remarkably similar to the embryos of practically all other animals with a spine:
The second gif below shows a baby human early in the process of nurture. In addition to the many behavioral qualities that her genes set her up for, she is also engaged in the great adventure of learning by watching:
That final quote
Last words go to the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer:
“Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see.”
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